Putting It To Bed

Major announcement tonight.

This evening at 10:59 pm, Central Daylight Time, the first draft of "Piercing the Darkness" was officially completed.

It's even ahead of schedule.

For the last three weeks, I have used every single available ounce of time (and then some) to squeeze as many chapters of this sequel out of my fatigued brain as possible.  The state of my home has suffered.  My gardens are an overgrown mess.  Time with my son has suffered (but he's a teenager so he's doing his own thing alot too).  My poor kitties have spent countless hours laying all over my desk, trying their hardest to get any scrap of alone time with me.

Even though it's involved sharing said time with my computer.

These last four days I've stayed up far too late, spent too little time on the treadmill and too much time getting the secretary spread.  I'm not that old, but my joints are trying to convince me otherwise. 

Hoped I'd have the time to get it done within the next two or three weekends.  Instead the marathon has produced incredible results.  What I initially intended to accomplish by the end of August was finished before the final day of July.

And I'm thrilled to death.

So for the next few weeks the pages will curl and yellow as they sit untouched on my computer.  Like a fine wine, it gets tastier to drink when you leave it alone and let it age in the barrel before disturbing it again.  I've already got ideas for a few scene additions, but for now it will ruminate.

And I will celebrate putting another one to bed.

For now, I'm putting myself to bed.  But stay tuned. 

There will be a third - and I've got something fun in store for that one.

The Fans Have Spoken!

Before I forget:  HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!!!

Okay, now that we have that over with, and I'm looking forward to blowing up the sky tonight, let's talk writing.

The fans have spoken, and I have listened.  Originally when I wrote "The Study" I anticipated it being a stand alone story.  Yes, I realize many of you hated the manner in which it ended, but to me it was represented as closer to real life than you might expect.

Of all the stories sitting on my computer - and I promise I will get to them all in due time, well maybe some are destined for the delete bin, but that's beside the point - this one is very personal to me.  All of the specific events and circumstances depicted in the story are fictionalized, but what happens at the end is very much real life for me.

And you might be surprised how many in this world for whom it is all too true.

So writing "The Study" was really just for me to get some of my thoughts out.  I never intended to publish it until encouraged by some dear friends around me.

Well now that it's out there in the eBook universe, I realize there might be need for closure for Katie and Matt.  So after much deliberation both internally and externally, I have decided to write a sequel short story for "The Study".  It's going to tentatively be entitled, "The Search".

How's that for whetting your appetite?

However, don't expect it anytime soon.  The focus at the present time is to finish my first draft of "Piercing the Darkness", the sequel to "Running into the Darkness".  Once I finish that there will be several weeks of letting it sit before I go in and complete the next draft.  During that time, I plan to start work on "The Search". 

No, I cannot promise that it will also be available by the end of the year (PTD is my focus for 2012), but I will promise to try very hard to get it ready for early 2013.  If things go REALLY well, it is possible for yearend, but I'm not going to give any specifics.  I'm not one to write checks I can't cash.

So keep watching and looking for updates on the upcoming, fan requested sequel to "The Study".

Once again, my son and I wish you the best for a safe and happy Fourth!